Kodiak's Claim Read Online Free Page B

shifters?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, apparently I spoke too soon. Their alpha just showed up, and he’s definitely not run-of-the-mill. Gotta go.”
    Before Reid could yell at him, the phone went dead, and Reid almost sent it flying off into the woods. But he reined in his temper. He needed the co-ordinates of Travis’ location. Punching them into the GPS of his snowmobile, it showed him less than four miles from his cousin.
    Only minutes at top speed on his sled. Minutes that could cost Travis his life—and impact Reid’s.
    His Aunt Betty-Sue would skin him if her boy didn’t make it back to town in one piece.
    Throttle open all the way, and his RPM in the flashy red, Reid sped to the rescue. The rumble of his engine hid the sound of battle as he approached the area, but he saw the headlights of the truck long before that. Ditching his machine, Reid stripped quickly, his clothing specially made to allow for a rapid shed. Only dumb shifters with money to burn ripped through their wardrobe.
    Bones cracked and reformed as Reid took off running. He hit the ground on four paws, claws digging into the icy surface for purchase, his shivering human skin disappearing under a layer of thick, brown fur. When he opened his mouth, now full of sharp teeth, his roar echoed and declared to all that he’d arrived, a fact he didn’t give the wolves time to digest before he bowled into them, massive paws slashing.
    In the heat of battle it was difficult to really perceive individual events. Everything happened in a blur of sound, motion, and snatched glimpses. Reid took in the action in snapshot glances. There was a grizzly, his cousin, with a wolf hanging off his side, its teeth clamped while Travis held another in a hug, their snapping jaws fighting for the killing blow.
    Furry, snarling shapes lunged and dove. Some of them thought to gang up on Reid, but it would take more than a few mangy gray wolves to worry him. If this had been a pack of true werewolves though, then he would have really had a good time. Wild and puny, normal ones, though? Piece of decadent maple pie.
    Reid tore into them, the coppery taste of blood warm on his tongue. While he might have balked in his human shape at the flavor, his beast reveled in it. He ruled these parts. He protected his clan. And these scurvy curs would feel his wrath.
    His breath puffed out, a white steam from his nostrils, as he waded into battle, determined to teach them all a lesson, a fatal one. At the edge of his vision, he caught a glimpse of antlers. Boris, his massive moose frame trampling the wolves nagging his hocks while he tossed his head, his wide rack of antlers banging about the large wolf snarling at him.
    Aha, the leader.
    Ignoring those still snapping for his attention, Reid lumbered toward Boris and the shifter who was obviously in charge of this attack. He bellowed a challenge, expecting the alpha wolf to meet him. After all, the bastard had the balls to attack his truck and his people. If a run for leadership of his clan was what he wanted, then Reid would oblige. But the yellow-bellied coward didn’t turn to face him. With a sharp yip, the large wolf turned tail and ran.
    What the fuck?
    Reid almost chased after. His Kodiak certainly wanted to, but common sense prevailed. Travis, barely more than a cub really, let adrenaline dictate his actions and would have raced after the shifter, but Boris stepped in his path and grunted. Funny how, whether man or beast, he sounded pretty much the same.
    When Travis moved to get around the towering moose, Boris shifted to block him again. As the ululations of the fleeing wolves faded, Travis swapped to his human form and yelled, “What the fuck? Why aren’t we chasing these bastards?”
    Taking his human shape in the cold was something even a big ol’ bear like Reid never quite got used to. Human skin, even that of a shifter, wasn’t meant for the harsh winter climate, not without a few thermal layers. He didn’t reply to